Exploring the Promise of Food as Medicine in Louisiana
Food can do more than fill an empty plate. It can also support better health, help people manage chronic disease, and strengthen communities.
That is why Feeding Louisiana is exploring the growing Food as Medicine landscape and the role food banks can play in helping build practical, community-based solutions. Across our state, Louisiana’s five regional food banks bring deep experience in food access, logistics, community partnerships, and direct service. Those strengths make food banks valuable partners in conversations about how nutritious food can be more intentionally connected to health and well-being.
Food as Medicine is not a single program or a one-size-fits-all model. It can include healthy food boxes, hospital-based pantries, produce-focused support, nutrition education, and referral partnerships that connect people to food in ways that support their health. Feeding Louisiana is working to better understand what models may fit Louisiana, where opportunities already exist, and what it will take to build approaches that are practical, sustainable, and scalable over time.
There is already meaningful work happening across Louisiana. Some food banks are partnering with healthcare providers, operating hospital-based pantries, offering healthy food box models, or connecting food access with nutrition education. Others are building the partnerships, infrastructure, and capacity needed for future Food as Medicine efforts. That is important because successful programs must reflect local realities, available capacity, and the needs of each community.
This work also matters because the opportunity is bigger than healthcare alone. The Rockefeller Foundation’s report, From Farm to FIM: The Economic Impact of Local Food is Medicine, highlights that Food is Medicine programs can improve health while also creating economic opportunity for local farms and communities. The Foundation says these programs could generate more than $45 billion in economic activity nationwide, create 316,000 jobs, and produce $5.6 billion in new revenue for small and mid-sized farms if brought to scale. (The Rockefeller Foundation)
The report also points to a significant potential impact in Louisiana. According to the Rockefeller Foundation, Food is Medicine programs in Louisiana could generate $50,433,000 in potential farmer revenue and support 6,780 jobs. The report further notes that program design matters: states that prioritize local sourcing, multi-year purchasing commitments, and food system infrastructure are better positioned to keep healthcare dollars working in local communities. (The Rockefeller Foundation)
That is one reason Feeding Louisiana believes this conversation is worth exploring. Well-designed Food and Health programs have the potential to improve neighbor health, strengthen local food systems, support farmers and food businesses, and help “shorten the line” over time by addressing some of the underlying conditions that drive food insecurity. At the same time, Louisiana’s food banks know that any long-term model must be realistic, adequately funded, and designed to work within the operational realities of each region. (The Rockefeller Foundation)
Feeding Louisiana is committed to helping explore that path with our five regional food banks and partners across the state. Our goal is to better understand what works, support innovation where it makes sense, and help create viable business models that can strengthen the network, improve health outcomes, and expand access to nutritious food in communities across Louisiana.
For more on the broader Food as Medicine landscape, review The Rockefeller Foundation’s report, From Farm to FIM: The Economic Impact of Local Food is Medicine. (The Rockefeller Foundation)